Wednesday September 29, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C5 Business BARG AIN-RATE CAR INSURANCE W IT H B A R G A IN - RATE SERVICE IS 286 N O B A R G A IN . ^ To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 to insure your car, see me: ^ " 1 Custom Build Your O w n PC arK Save Even More! . 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Econo Pack INTEL PENTIUM II • Pentium II Bx mainboard • Network C • 3 2 M BSDRam • 1.44 floppy Drive •3 .2 GB Hard Drive • 8 M B V d eo •V .9 0 56K Fax Modem • 32x CD-Rom • 1 6 Bit Sound •W in 95 Keyboard • Case & Power Supply • 3 Button Mouse & Pad 466 Speers Rd., Oakville 905 849-9881 Also located in: Pickering • Peterborough • Toronto • Oshawa • Barrie • Orillia • Collingwood • Sudbury ANNOUNCEMENT W ith the recent m erger o f Avestel C red it U nion U m ited and Family Savings & C re d it U nion Lim ited, Val Narduzzi, C h a ir o f T h e Board o f D irec to rs o f Avestel Family Savings C re d it U nion Lim ited, is pleased to announce the appointm ent o f James D. N ow lan to the posi tion o f President and A nthony L Niessen to the position o f C h ie f Executive Officer. James D. N ow lan has been the C E O of Avestel C re d it U nion and it's predecessor, Stelco C re d it U nion since 1977. A D ire c to r and James D N ow lan * Past C h a ir o f the Canada East Council o f the C re d it U nion Executives Society, he is also a M em b er o f the C re d it A dvisory C o m m ittee o f C re d it Union Electronic Transaction Services and a M em b e r o f the C E O Roundtable. As the C E O o f Family Savings & C re d it U nion fo r the past 25 years,Anthony L Niessen brings m o re than 32 years o f experience in the cred it union system to Avestel Family Savings. H e is currently V ice -C ha ir o f the O n ta rio C re d it U n io n C ha ritab le Foundation, is a D ire c to r o f the Canada East Council o f the C re d it U n ion Executives Society and was the Anthony L. Niessen first recip ient o f the G ary Gillam A w ard fo r social responsibility, bestowed by C re d it Union C entra l o f O n ta rio . New Name, Same Great Service AVESTEL FAMILY SAVINGS C R E D I T U N I O N L I M I T E D Now with 17 Branches & 30 ATMs To Serve You In Niagara, The Greater Hamilton Area And South Western Ontario. HIGH TECH REALTORS: They call Roald Marth (seated) the 'technology evangelist' and he brought his message to area realtors at a special technology and trade seminar last week. Among those attending were Helen Lightbody, Oakville, Milton and District Real Estate Board president, Betty Phillips and Marta Spondor. About 350 people attend ed the event that also featured a trade show with web page and internet service providers. But 're tirem en t' will see her take business on-line By N ancy A le xa n d e r SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER "There's not a chance in the world I'm going to quit...to leave the joy of buying and handling these beautiful fabrics. Not a chance." No one who knows Jeanette Bird will doubt those words. Although the well known Oakville merchant formally closed the doors on her world- famous Tex-Styles fabric shop last week, retirement is the fur thest thing from her mind. As she says, "there's not a chance" she's going to leave behind the faithful customers who have come to her for 38 years, whenever they were looking for "something spe cial". was pressured to open businesses. "In Victoria, I decided to start taking e-mail addresses and it seemed like 99 out of every 100 customers had one," says Bird. "I couldn't believe it." Then came an advertisement in a prestigious trade maga zine, Threads, which highlighted Armani fabrics, along with Tex-Styles toll-free number in Oakville. "I had calls by the hundreds from all over the U.S.," says Bird. "I should have done it 30 years ago." After 38 years serving her cus tomers in three different Oakville locations, Jeanette Bird knows she will miss the day to day contact but she plans to stay in touch through trade shows (she is scheduled to do eight between October and March) and her electronic net work. Her web site which she says will be expanded in due time, will feature 15 different gar ments with details on price, size and colour of the fabric used. A thumbnail sample of each colour will also be displayed. Most importantly, a toll-free number will ensure that Bird will still be available to answer questions and offer advice to her customers. Although the nature of her business is changing, Bird says she doesn't want anyone to think that she no longer has time for her customers. "I love this business and the people have been very good to me. And much to my great delight, the response to the idea of my web site has been more than my wildest dreams," she adds. Her only sadness, she says, is realizing that there are thou sands of people who won't know that she has closed her store until they show up at the door. In an effort to maintain the link she has kept her phone number the same.Tex-Styles can be found on the Internet at www.tex-styles.net. The e-mail address is fabrics@tex- styles.net. To call toll-free dial 1-800-771-7599, or in Oakville call 845-7441. Jeanette Bird and the Tex- Styles name are known throughout North America and Europe for top quality designer fabrics. Her reputation is such that she has been begged by fabric lovers from across Canada to o{ten up shops in other cities. And in a very real sense, she is about to do just that. Armed with her own web site on the Internet, an e-mail address and a toll-free number, Jeanette Bird is about to take her fabrics on-line. Speaking to the Beaver last week as she prepared to close her Trafalgar Road store, Bird was very emotional about the thought of leaving the shop which she bought and renovated 11 years ago. She explained that it had originally been her intention to sell the building, lease it back, and carry on business as usual. When that didn't work out, she decided the time was right to try a new approach. Bird says she began to realize the potential of doing busi ness on the Internet a couple of years ago when she started doing trade shows across Canada. The reception she received out west, she says, was aston ishing. In each case-- Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria--she Pho to by Peter C. M cCusker Jeannette Bird: doors may have closed on Tex-Styles but new doors opening for Oakville businesswoman Oakville Beaver & Sheridan Sun in new partnership Ad sales handled by Beaver representatives Sheridan's Roy Downs and Oakville Beaver Publisher, Ian Oliver R ebecca S tonem an SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The Oakville Beaver has assumed responsibility for advertising sales for The Sheridan Sun and Light Waves magazine as well as composing, print ing, delivery and off-campus distribution of both publications, as a result of unique, new partnership. The Sheridan Sun entered into an agreement with the Oakville Beaver that became necessary after Sun sales man ager, Mike Brown resigned in May. The partnership is an extension of the agree ment already in place for the past eight years that allowed the Sun's advertising content to be produced by the Beaver. In order to provide the services that the Beaver is now doing at no cost to the college, Sheridan would have to gener ate more than $150,000 in revenue, says Roy Wilson, Journalism program coor dinator. It costs about $2,500 a week for the composing and printing of 5,000 copies of the Sun. The Sun is distributed on the Davis and Trafalgar campuses of the college and throughout the Oakville community. Light Waves magazine can cost up to $7,000 per issue. The Beaver has assigned two full time sales staff members to specifically sell ad space for both Sheridan publica tions but any other sales staff member can potentially get involved. This means that, indirectly, up to 13 people could be working on Sun sales, says Beaver pub lisher Ian Oliver. The Beaver has always had a close relationship with the college and the partnership with the Sun is a natural evo lution of this relationship, says Oliver, he hopes that the Beaver staff will build on the advertising that The Sun already has, creating more editorial space. This means more opportunities for journalism students. With this agreement, Sheridan's jour nalism program has strengthened its ties with Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing, Ontario's largest chain of community newspapers. The agreement is the first of its kind in Ontario. The Beaver is currently working on an agreement to sell ads for Traditions, Sheridan's alumni magazine based on the journalism partnership. Bid On the Spectacular Silent Auction Come and Enjoy in person "Legends of the Past" Tina Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Blues Brothers, I n S u p p o r t o f W o m e n ' s H e a l t h a n d O a k v i l l e - T r a f a l c a r M e m o r i a l H o s p i t a l The OTMH Charitable Corporation invites you to the 1999 OTMH Gala Presented by Merrill Lynch Canada Saturday, November 6th, 1999 6:00 p.m. Rattlesnake Poinl Golf Club Highway 25 (north of Highway 5) $250.oo per person Black Tie Preferred (C haritable tax receip t provided tor the donation portion ol Ih ticket) Merrill Lynch ' The Oakville Beaver A fter 38 years Jean ette Bird closes d o o r at Tex-S tyles http://www.tex-styles.net mailto:fabrics@tex-styles.net mailto:fabrics@tex-styles.net Custom POWER HOUSE Econo Pack But 'retirement' will see her take business on-line The OTMH Charitable Corporation Merrill Lynch